Who we are at Robot City Games
We first opened Robot City games in 2008 in a small storefront in Binghamton, New York. It's truly a successful small, family business and for years we've put everything we've made into constant improvements and upgrades.
At first we carried a mix of video games and card games and slowly we started replacing the gaming tables with arcade games to focus on our passion and expertise.
While expanding our store and arcade at the same time we ran out of room and an opportunity presented it's self when the business next door closed. We quickly rented the adjoining space, had a doorway installed between the storefronts and slowly started filling the additional 1200 square foot space with arcade games, adding lighting and an atmosphere that was lost in modern arcades. We started an eclectic mix of games from all time periods, no matter what the highlight of your arcade experience was as a child, when you turned a corner you were there.
We do not want to be another retail chain store with the same old stuff. While we do sell modern games, we look at our store as more in the style of a curated book store, high quality and organized to cover the entire range of video game history. We look at our arcade in the same way.
We saved every dime we could with a bigger goal in mind and in early 2015 we found the right place. A 7000 square foot building was for sale just a block away and perfect for what we wanted to do based on the feedback we've gotten from our customers over the last 7 years. We put a down payment down and started work on our building.
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By 2011 we had built our arcade up to 17 games. It felt like a lot at the time... Now in 2016 we have over 100 and there's still room to grow!
October of 2015 we moved into the new space filling it with games we had been repairing and stockpiling and it was everything we had hoped it would be.
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We now have 18 pinball machines and counting...
After months spent repairing the building, redoing the floors, painting the walls in 16 colors and installing color changing lights to make the walls morph and bend colors, we were ready to provide an amazing environment to play your choice of over 100 arcade games including a big row of pinball and the space to add 20-30 more games when we find the right machines.
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A row of classics...
We were a big hit and everything was going great. We have regulars that drive for hours every week to take in the arcade and grab some Nintendo or Xbox One games on their way out.
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We stock thousands and thousands of console games, modern and retro.
We had become a tourist attraction and also locally known for a great date night, family time out or a great, inexpensive place to go with your friends. We still saved everything we could for buying more games and really become all we can be. All the hard work was paying off as we saw the fruition of years and years of work becoming reality.
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We have arcade games of all eras, practically a museum that you can play!
So why are we asking for help?
An unexpected roadblock
It seems we have grown too big, too fast. Local government has decided we need some additional safety features and we had to close the arcade side of the new space until we can provide them. We were allowed to move 20 games into the store side but can't reopen the arcade to the public until we build a hallway through our back room for an emergency exit, install a fire alarm system and sprinkler system.
We are saving all we can from sales but they are hampered by the fact that 3/4 of our building is closed and there is less motivation to visit with the main attraction gone.
(We are not really protesting, we understand this needs to be done. )
The Impact of your help
We want to be a safe place, we pride ourselves on being a family friendly environment, a fantastic place to take your children, family, friends or your date where you can have hours of affordable fun.
We overlooked the requirements for a building of this size but understand the need to do the right thing and get it up to code. Safety of our guests has always been important and if this makes it safer for our patrons, then so be it.
Risks & Challenges
There are no risks. We are a successful business who serves the local community as well as the video game community. We are proud to have become a destination, a stop along the way for gamers everywhere when they plan their road trips and we are proud that international visitors who have not seen a proper arcade in 30 years plan their trips to include us. We also love our local community and being an active member in revitalizing our city.
Our only challenge is to get this going again ASAP. Any little bit will help in this goal.
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T Shirt perk! Limited Edition Gold on black! Screen printed by Muckles' Ink!
We are offering great and valuable perks and will be adding special stock and exclusive events to those from time to time to help raise these funds. Every cent we raise in this campaign will be used towards this goal, anything we raise over this goal will go directly into improving the arcade and arcade experience for you.
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Hoodie perk! Limited Edition Gold on black! Screen printed by Muckles' Ink!
Other Ways You Can Help
With your help we hope to make this happen sooner rather than later and get this great thing going again.
If you can't stop by in person to show your support please contribute by sharing this campaign within your online community, we appreciate your help spreading the word and keeping the classic arcade experience alive! If you're able, grab one of the great perks we are offering.
I've added my own personal collection to our store's stock, a massive video game collection I've built for over 25 years, our already incredible stock has just gotten even better. Come buy some :)
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Our Nintendo section, full of rarities collected from the last 25 years!
We thank you and hope to see you soon!